Australian Tertiary Admission Rank. A percentile rank from 0 to 99.95 indicating your standing relative to other Year 12 students nationally. Calculated from your scaled subject marks.

What is a scaled mark?

Your raw subject mark adjusted by TISC based on cohort strength. The scaled mark is what feeds your ATAR; raw marks are what you receive from SCSA before scaling.

Tertiary Entrance Aggregate. The sum of your top 4 scaled subject marks (with at least one English subject). The TEA is converted to an ATAR via percentile rank.

Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment. A SCSA test all WA students must pass to receive a WACE. Tests reading, writing and numeracy at ACSF Level 3 standard.

WACE & ATAR Glossary · Educatta Perth

ATAR

The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank: a number from 0 to 99.95 used by universities for entry. It is a rank, not a score.

ATAR scaling

The adjustment that levels the playing field across subjects of different difficulty. Methods, Specialist, Chem and Physics typically scale up.

WACE

Western Australian Certificate of Education: your high school graduation credential. Separate from your ATAR, but they sit on top of the same coursework.

SCSA

The School Curriculum and Standards Authority. The body that writes WA syllabuses, sets external exams, and publishes past papers.

Coming soon M

Methods Unit 1–4

Mathematics Methods is split across Year 11 (Units 1 & 2) and Year 12 (Units 3 & 4). Only Units 3 & 4 count toward your ATAR.

Coming soon S

Specialist

Mathematics Specialist: Methods plus advanced topics like complex numbers and vectors. The highest scaling subject in WA, year after year.

Coming soon P

Prerequisite (Methods for Engineering)

Some uni courses require you to have studied a specific WACE subject. UWA and Curtin Engineering both list Methods as a hard prerequisite.

Coming soon R

Reasonable Adjustment Application

The SCSA process for getting extra time, separate rooms or other accommodations in WACE exams. Requires medical or psychological documentation.

Coming soon

ATAR, in one paragraph

Your ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) is a rank: it tells universities where you sit relative to your year cohort across the country, on a scale from 0 to 99.95. An ATAR of 90 means roughly the top 10% of students. It is calculated by TISC in WA, after SCSA hands across your scaled marks for your best four ATAR subjects, plus your moderated school marks. It is not an average and it is not a score: it is a position in line.

For most uni courses, the ATAR is the door. For competitive courses (Medicine, Law, Engineering), prerequisites and additional tests sit on top. Predict your ATAR with our free tool, or read about scaling, the part most students miss.

The WACE & ATAR Glossary